U.S. Government Responds To Mayan Doomsday

You know, the word Apocalypse is actually taken from the Greek apokalyptein, meaning to uncover, disclose, reveal or, in general terms, to “a revelation of something hidden.”

In fact, the last book of the New Testament, the Revelation of John, was actually titled the Apocalypsis Ioannou, or the Apocalypse of John.

Today, the term is mostly used to describe the end of days, or a prophesied catastrophic event.

And oh look! There’s one over there!

The Mayan “Apocalypse” is so close now (and apparently so widely believed) that, just this week, the United States government issued a statement on their USA.gov blog titled “Scary Rumors about the World Ending in 2012 Are Just Rumors.”

“False rumors about the end of the world in 2012 have been commonplace on the Internet for some time. Many of these rumors involve the Mayan calendar ending in 2012 (it won’t), a comet causing catastrophic effects (definitely not), a hidden planet sneaking up and colliding with us (no and no), and many others.

The world will not end on December 21, 2012, or any day in 2012.”

The blog post continues on to lament how people, especially children, are frightened, and how NASA continues to receive letters and emails from concerned citizens.

“…what end-of-the-world year will the rumor mill make up next?”

I’m just going to throw the year 2038 out there. I’ve always been a fan of technological doomsdays.